House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters he’ll suggest that fellow Democrats oppose a “clean” increase in the nation’s debt ceiling in a vote this evening, even though many Democrats have called for such a measure.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“I’m going to advise my members that they shouldn’t subject themselves to the demagoguery that would surely follow,” the Maryland Democrat said Tuesday.

Last month, 114 House Democrats signed a letter demanding a vote on a debt limit increase that is not tied to spending cuts, while Republicans want any increase to be link to such cuts. Since then, Democratic leaders have conceded that any debt ceiling increase would have to be linked to spending cuts, and talks are under way over the size and nature of those trims.

The GOP leadership is holding Tuesday’s vote knowing it will fail, with every Republican and many Democrats voting no. That is prompting Democrats to deride the vote as political theater. GOP leaders hope to put Democrats on the spot. The vote also could make it easier for GOP lawmakers to vote for a debt limit hike later, if it’s tied to spending cuts, since they’ve opposed the “clean” increase.

Mr. Hoyer dismissed all of this as empty maneuvering, saying the reputation and credit of the U.S. government should not be treated lightly. The Treasury Department says the government will begin defaulting on its obligations if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by Aug. 2, but some economists predict the markets will not wait until then to reflect their anxiety.

“It will not be an adult moment on the floor of the House of Representatives,” Mr. Hoyer said of Tuesday’s vote. “To put something on the floor for the purposes of seeing it fail…shows that it’s a political charade.”

Republicans are not waiting for the vote, which is expected at 6:30 p.m., to go after Democrats. The National Republican Congressional Committee, which coordinates GOP House campaigns, has sending out statements targeting several Democrats. Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), who heads the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative GOP House members, also criticized a yes vote.

“The blank check debt-limit increase supported by President [Barack] Obama and his fellow Democrats would send our great country into an economic death spiral,” Mr. Jordan said. “We cannot continue down this same reckless path of borrowing and spending like there is no tomorrow.”

Debt limit increases are volatile because many voters see them as enabling Washington’s spending. The issue became especially heated during the 2010 election, when Republican challengers attacked Democratic incumbents for previously voting to raise the debt ceiling.

Mr. Hoyer acknowledged that Democrats often oppose raising the debt limit when it’s requested by a Republican president, and Republicans generally oppose them when they’re proposed by Democrats.

“Both Democrats and Republicans have postured on it, including me. It’s unfortunate that we’ve done that to one another,” Mr. Hoyer said. “That’s not adult behavior, and we’ve all pursued it, and we ought to get beyond it.”

Mr. Hoyer also said House Democrats, who are meeting with President Obama Thursday, would raise the issue of the timing and speed of a withdrawal from Afghanistan. This appears to reflect an ongoing anxiety by Democrats about the Afghan war, even as the conflict in Iraq is winding down and the U.S. is engaged in a new military operation in Libya.

Last week, the House narrowly failed, on a 204-215 vote, to approve a measure by Reps. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.) and Justin Amash (R., Mich.) that would have required an “accelerated” withdrawal from Afghanistan. Twenty-six Republicans joined 178 Democrats in supporting the measure.

“There were all but eight Democrats who voted for McGovern’s amendment, which essentially said, ‘Mr. President, we need to look at once again what we’re doing in Afghanistan and we need to be looking towards a transition to the Afghans of responsibility for their security and stability in their country,’ ” Mr. Hoyer said.

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